Meeting the Girls – Part Two
My descent into Vintage Sewing Machine addiction.
Meeting Ginger.
When I first got interested in vintage machines, one of these immediately caught my eye.
It is a Singer Model 66 machine with Redeye Decals. These are also known as Red Head decals. The American Singer 66 was produced from 1902-1956, totaling 5,924,909 machines and the 66K from Kilbowie, Scotland was produced from 1907-1940 with 2,981,388 machines manufactured. The first 66s rolled off the production line with a commission date of October 27, 1902. So a lot of these machines were made and they were very popular. They are very easy to operate and they sew a near perfect stitch. Several decals were applied to these machines and all of them are beautiful. But my absolute favorite is the Red Eye decal – and I really wanted to own one.
When I saw one on my local craigslist, I had to contact them immediately. Here are the photos she posted.
The lady I spoke to said it was her mother’s machine and she thought it was maybe from the 1940’s and she said she didn’t think it worked and the cabinet was in kind of rough shape.
With one vintage machine restoration under my belt, I felt like maybe if it really WAS broken, I could get it running. She was asking $45 and I thought that was too good of a price to pass up. We arranged to meet at her mother’s old house which she was in the process of cleaning out since her mother had passed on. She was very kind and sweet and we plugged it in and it did appear to be running, but it was really slow. I figured it just needed some oil and some love and it would be fine.
So we loaded it into my car and I was on my way home. The lady I bought it from was almost crying as I left and I gave her a hug and I thanked her for letting me buy it. She said she was happy that it was going to someone who would use it and love it a little longer.
The cabinet was in pretty rough shape and it literally fell apart in the car on the way home. I had to pull over and secure the pieces so it would not get damaged further. I wasn't really too interested in the cabinet anyway. I was more interested in the actual machine head. After getting it home and set up in the garage, I was relieved to discover it wasn’t really broken, it just needed to be put back together properly. Perhaps over the years, the glue and screws had given out. Some well-placed screws, some wood glue and some Restore a finish and it was looking pretty good.
I am here to tell you guys, Restore a finish is really amazing stuff. I has happy that the cabinet was savageable.
The serial number lets me know that this machine is one of 50,000 born September 20, 1921. So not the 1940’s as originally thought, but much older.
The machine needed a good cleaning and a good amount of strategic oiling to get it loosened up. I removed the light and I still need to replace the belt on the motor since it is slipping, but for now - it runs really well.
Just yesterday, I removed the motor and placed the machine head in my treadle cabinet and she works beautifully in the treadle. I need to get the hang of the timing of treadling this machine as it performs different than the Singer 9W I had in there previously, but otherwise, it is great and I just love the clickety-clackety sound it makes.
I made sure to e-mail the lady I bought it from with photos of the restoration and information about the machine that I had found out from the serial number. This is the e-mail she sent back to me
.....Thank you so much for loving my mother's sewing machine and for sharing the information about it. I am happy it found its way to a good home since I could not take it to California with me. She would be so happy and so am I….
The lady I bought it from is named Ginger so that is what I named this machine. The perfect name for a beautiful machine!!